


wearing my vintage misery (i think it looks a little better on me)

by syrenhug



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Sex, Other, agender!piper, nonbinary!thalia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-18 00:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2328716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syrenhug/pseuds/syrenhug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She isn’t the best runner, and they don’t win a lot, but running is like tasting a little bit of that freedom that some people won’t allow her. It doesn’t make up for it, but she’s happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wearing my vintage misery (i think it looks a little better on me)

**Author's Note:**

> For Robin. Because you were sad. I hope you're not now.

Annabeth runs.

There’s nothing behind her but the wind flying and her legs pumping to whatever song is playing on her IPod and she is not thinking about anything but how fast she wishes she could go.

She runs until there is no choice but for her to stop.

* * *

Reyna’s room smells like expensive perfume and her mouth tastes like shea butter. She wonders, for a second, if Reyna rubs it on her lips every morning.

“What the fuck are you thinking about?”

 Annabeth drags the tips of her fingers over Reyna’s bra strap and kisses her the curve of her breasts. “Nothing.”

 Anyone else would be put off. Anyone else would let it go. But Her Majesty Reyna is not deterred. Her eyes are oddly bright in the mellow lightening.

 “Gods. I was just wondering if you used shea butter on your lips.”

 “Hmmm.” The girl pulls away, flipping her hair behind her in a stretch to find her shirt.

 It’s not a good hmmm.

 “Annabeth-“

 She’s not unintelligent. And she’s been friends with her since first grade when Percy shoved  Annabeth on the playground and Reyna shoved him back. There’s never been a place between them. Something to separate.

 “You want to stop. This?”

 Reyna shrugs. “It’s a good idea. It was only - it can’t go on for too much longer until we can’t use being young as an excuse.”

 Sometimes she wants to ask Reyna what it’s like to hate a part of you so much, you stifle it’s existence. Maybe she should be asking herself the same question.

 "Okay, yeah, okay." She breathes. "I'm gonna go."

 Reyna says, "Yeah, I'll see you later."

 And. Alright.

* * *

Someone shoves into her in the hallway and she stops.

“Excuse you?”

They step forward, fingering their three ear piercings with a boldness that turns her on a little, if she’s going to be honest. “If you think you’re going to steal my spot as the fastest, then you’re mistaken as fuck.”

Annabeth would love to point out the unnecessary use of fuck seeing as doesn’t add anything to the sentence, but only stares.

Blue eyes glint and a pale, freckled hand waves as they walk away. “Nice talk, princess.”  

* * *

When she stomps over to Percy’s table at lunch, he gasps in mock surprise. “You live.”

“Unfortunately.” She says, and her friend smiles a little. Because there’s nothing else to do with that but ignore it.

“I wanted to ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you and Reyna friends?”

It’s easy to tell, by the stroke of his friends that Percy wants to ask if they’re fucking, but he is too much of a good boy to ask out loud.

She hates people like him with her whole heart.

“No. Not at all.” She stabs her fork into her lettuce and he doesn’t say anything else.

* * *

She stays up at night thinking about the way she could fit the width of Reyna’s curls in her fist and the slickness of her thighs when Annabeth goes down on her.

She wishes she was a different kind of person.

* * *

Track practice isn’t as isolated as she’d figured. Thalia just rolls her eyes at her when she jogs in a little late. Thankfully, Coach Artemis doesn’t seem to mind.

It’s pretty chill. As everyone is stretching, someone asks, “Does anybody have any gum?”

“Silena. We’re literally about to run.” Clarisse rumbles. They remind her of a mountain; solid and unsettling. But beautiful. Yeah.

“I know. But I ate this onion ring and my mouth still feels gross.”

Annabeth twists her hand into her pocket and hands the person a piece of gum. They accept it and wave. “Silena. You?”

“Annabeth.”

“Cool. Are you fast?”

She puts her hair up. “I’m okay.”

“You gotta be more then okay to be on the team.” Thalia grumbled. The person sitting on the  sidewalk, drinking water, waves a hand.

“Fuck off, Thals.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Well, stop.”

Suddenly, Silena pipes up. “All of our pronouns are she/her, by the way. Besides, Thalia of course, and Piper.” She nods at the water - drinker who just waves again.

“Yeah, I was gonna ask.”

Clarisse straightens up. Her eyes are scrunched together, like she’s thinking about hard about something. “We’re supposed to be running.”

“All right.” Silena’s smile is bright. She’s so pretty Annabeth has to look away. “Let’s go.”

And they take off.

* * *

Jason and Reyna are all over each other anywhere anyone is watching. She tries not to think about it or she’ll puke. But it seems desperate to her. Pathetic.

“Hey, Princess.” Thalia nods, walking slower to keep level with her.

“Hey.”

There’s a quiet moment when she’s thinking of things to say and - “Do you think that it matters?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Like. Love and sex. You know,” She clears her throat. “Stuff.”

“Oh. Stuff.” Thalia nods again, biting their lip. They look smug, and Annabeth decides she doesn’t like it.

“Never mind.”

“No, no. Come back here.”

And even though they don’t touch her, the way drag of their tone has her walking back.

"Now, what were you trying to ask?”

“Was it hard, I mean - when you came out?”

“Yes.” They bite their lip. “But, it was worth it. And all my friends are cool.”

She’s always thought Thalia had been amazing to correct the teacher’s when they’d try to divide them into boy/girl groups. It hadn’t looked easy. It couldn’t have been easy.

“Annabeth, like.” Thalia runs a hand through their hair. Class is about to start, and Thalia's  class probably isn’t anywhere nears hers’. “It’s a big deal. Coming out is a big deal, not because it’s wrong or because it’s the end of the world. It’s just - you’re brave. It’s brave.”

She images kissing Reyna where people can see, and then she’s imaging kissing another girl, and it’s _so_.

Thalia smiles. Not as severe as their usual. “Alright, enough of that. See you at practice.”

* * *

_You’re brave_ , she thinks, as her dad picks her up from school, and -

_maybe._

* * *

She isn’t the best runner, and they don’t win a lot, but running is like tasting a little bit of that freedom that some people won’t allow her. It doesn’t make up for it, but she’s happy.

And when Thalia asks her out, nervous and smirky, all at once,  she doesn’t say no.


End file.
